Love, Lust, Lies
by dreamingofrose
Summary: O.C style. Emmett McCarty, a troubled 16 year old, is taken in by the Cullens. He instantly falls for their good-girl next door neighbour Rosalie Hale while the Cullen's son, Edward, is still crushing on Bella Swan. Full summary inside. All human.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **Emmett McCarty is taken into the Cullen family after being kicked out by his mom for stealing and crashing a car. Edward, the Cullen's son, quickly befriends Emmett and shows him the ropes of living in Forks. He meets Rosalie, the clean-cut, good-girl who lives next door to Edward, and forms an instant crush on her, while Edward longs for Rosalie's best friend, Isabella Swan. OC style. All human.

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**CHAPTER ONE**

* * *

"Sorry it's not much," Dr Carlisle Cullen fluffed a third pillow, adding it to the pile on the bed of the pool house. He straightened the blanket – the third, too – while Emmett stared at him blankly. _Not much?_

"You'll be alright though, won't you?" he continued, facing Emmett with a smile on his face. "For the night, at least, before we can find you something better."

"Um," Emmett didn't know how to answer, so he shrugged. He didn't really know what to make of any of it. It was all too crazy. _Too much._

Carlisle smiled again, patting Emmett on the back. "Will you join us for dinner? Fifteen minutes," he said. "We're having steak."

"Sure," Emmett managed a smile. Carlisle nodded before stepping out of the pool house, closing the glass door behind him. Emmett breathed out heavily, sitting himself down on the edge of his new bed. _Wow, _he thought, feeling the cotton blanket that was draped over the end of the bed. Smiling, he fell back, the feather pillows softly beneath his head.

Carlisle watched him through the kitchen window for a few minutes. He sipped a small tumbler of whiskey slowly, finding himself laughing at Emmett who was touching everything in the room like he'd never had one – a lamp, or a bed, or curtains – before.

"What were you thinking?"

Carlisle spun around, spilling a little whiskey on the floor as Esme approached him. She had a pained look on her face, staring at him with wide eyes. Carlisle shrugged his shoulders innocently.

"He needs thi–"

"What he needs is to be in a cell!" Esme said, placing a hand on the breakfast counter for support. "He's a criminal, Carlisle. We can't have him here."

"We can't?" Carlisle raised an eyebrow, downing the last of his whiskey before placing the empty glass by the sink. He stepped forward, kissing his wife softly on the top of her head and placing his hands comfortingly on her hips. Esme sighed, defeated.

"I'll give it a try," she said, a smile nearly finding its way towards her mouth. "_But_ if he's any trouble, and I mean _any_, he's out."

"Carlisle?"

Both of them turned towards the sliding doors which were now half open. Emmett stood in between them, playing with his hands and staring at Carlisle and Esme. "Do you mind if I go for a quick walk?" he asked.

"A walk? Where?" Carlisle asked, filling up his glass again. Esme stayed quiet, staring at the floor.

"Down the drive," Emmett half-smiled, but then his expression returned serious. "I've got a headache."

"Sure," Carlisle said, raising his glass. "Go ahead. But dinner–"

"In fifteen," Emmett nodded, "got it."

He walked through the large house and towards the front door, and then out onto the drive. The Cullen's cars looked untouched – too shiny and new looking – though it'd been just a few hours since he'd been in one. He shook his head in disbelief and carried on walking out onto the sidewalk, pulling out his pack of cigarettes and taking one out.

"Who are you?"

He almost dropped the now-lit cigarette. He held it between his teeth, playing with it, and turned towards the next drive. He had barely noticed that house when Carlisle had brought him here, thinking that the Cullen's lived in this part of town and nobody else, it was that restricted.

He thought for a moment, before breathing out a cloud of grey smoke. "Whoever you want me to be," he leant forward as if it would make a difference and it would make him closer to the other drive.

The girl looked him up and down as he turned away. "Okay," she muttered, a small laugh playing on the word. Emmett nearly smiled. "Hey," she went on, and he turned to her again. "Can I have a smoke?"

Emmett didn't answer. Instead, he stepped forward and handed her one. She leant forward this time, lighting up her cigarette with his. As they both leaned back, she smiled. "So what are you really doing here?"

"Really?" Emmett asked. "I'm not sure you can handle that."

"Try me," the girl turned to him briefly. Emmett nodded.

"Alright," he mumbled, his tone growing louder as he spoke. "Well, I stole a car. Crashed it. My brother's in jail but I got let out because I didn't have drugs on me and I wasn't drunk."

The girl blinked, but instead of asking questions about it, something else amused her. "So," she said, "you're the cousin from Boston?"

Emmett blinked. "Yeah," he said after a moment, "I guess I am."

"Rosalie!"

Both Emmett and Rosalie dropped their cigarettes, coughing awkwardly as Dr Cullen joined them. He grinned widely, patting Emmett's shoulder. Rosalie smiled. "Hey Dr Cullen. I was just meeting your nephew."

Dr Cullen seemed confused for a moment, his eyebrows burrowing together before he realised. "Oh! My favorite nephew," he patted Emmett on the back again, harder. "Emmett. All the way from Tennessee."

"Tennessee?" Rosalie laughed, turning to Emmett.

"My mom's from Boston," he explained, "dad from Tennessee."

Dr Cullen quickly changed the subject. "So we're all looking forward to your fashion show fundraiser tomorrow night," he smiled warmly at Rosalie.

"Really?" Rosalie said as a car pulled up from the end of the road. While Carlisle laughed, Emmett stared directly at the car.

"No," Carlisle said honestly. Rosalie laughed again, finally turning her attention towards the car as the person inside beeped the horn.

"Just a second!" she said, turning again to Emmett. "Well, you should come along tomorrow. If you don't have any other plans."

She turned towards Royce in his car, opening the door and kissing Royce's lips as she fastened her seatbelt. Royce stared at Emmett before laughing. _Who's that? _Emmett heard him scoff.

As the car pulled out of the road, Carlisle took his hand off Emmett's back and rubbed his hands together. "Come on," he nodded towards the house. "Steak's getting cold."

The dinner was unusually quick for the Cullen family. Esme didn't say a word as she dished out the meal, and not even throughout the prayer. Edward ate quickly, not paying any attention to Emmett. He dashed off towards the living room, resuming paying his videogame. Carlisle seemed to be the liveliest.

"Hey," Emmett reached forward to help Esme with a few plates she was carrying after desert, "let me help you with that."

"No," Esme shook her head. "That won't be necessary."

Carlisle caught his glance, shaking his head as if to say _don't worry_. Emmett nodded at him, distracted slightly at the loud noise of cars screeching and people yelling. He vaguely remembered the game _Grand Theft Auto_ from when his brother used to play games on stealing cars, not actually do it in real life.

"Hey," Edward said as Emmett came into the living room doorway, switching the game onto pause mode and holding up a second controller. He looked flushed and a lock of messy, bronze hair fell above his eyebrow. "Wanna play?" he pushed the hair away with the back of his free hand.

Emmett thought for a moment, turning to look out at the dark night's sky. He pondered before Edward sighed. "It's okay," he pulled back the controller and fixed his eyes back on the screen. "Doesn't matter."

"No," Emmett said, getting down on the floor and sitting down next to Edward. He leant over to get the second controller. "I will."

Edward smiled. "I'm Edward."

"Emmett."

"Yeah," Edward chuckled, turning back to turn on the game. "I know."

"What?" Emmett raised his eyebrows. Edward shrugged, not even seeming a little distracted as he raced from the sound of police sirens.

"You live in Forks now," Edward reminded him, "you're going to have to get used to everybody knowing your name."

When Emmett woke up the next morning, he smelt coffee – the good, expensive kind – and waffles. Some pancakes, too, he decided. And syrup. Lots of syrup.

"Good morning," Esme said lightly as Emmett stirred in his bed. He grunted, sitting up and leaning against the backboard. He spotted Esme standing at the end of his bed with a tray in her hands. "I brought you some breakfast."

Gratefully, Emmett took it out of her hands. She had even added a glass of orange juice and a flower in a tall, slim vase. Picking up a fork, Emmett looked up. "Thanks," he said. "For everything, though. Not just the food."

"That's okay," Esme said, obviously out of her comfort zone. What do you say to a criminal? She hadn't had this experience before. "So I was just wondering–"

"When I'm leaving?" Emmett didn't flinch. He picked up a fork and dug into his pancakes, swilling it down with a mouthful of orange juice afterwards. "Don't worry," he reassured her. "I won't stay long."

Esme was about to say something else, but Emmett had already answered her unspoken question. She coughed anxiously, smoothing out her hands with her palms. "Carlisle rented you a suit for tonight's fundraiser. Marc Jacobs," she added as if Emmett knew what that meant. "Anyway, eat up."

Emmett glanced up as she left quietly. Placing his tray down, he sighed, running his hands through his short, dark hair before the door opened again.

"Knock knock," it was Edward. He'd already opened the door and was making his way towards a seat opposite Emmett's bed. Emmett stared at him widely.

"Sorry, man," Edward noticed the tense atmosphere, apparently, as he got up to leave, having only been sitting down for about twenty seconds.

"No," Emmett said, picking up the tray again and stuffing his mouth with the rest of the pancake he'd started. They were good. Better than anything he'd ever eaten before. "It's okay. Stay."

"Okay," Edward said. "In all honestly, I wasn't going to leave." Emmett would have laughed, had his mouth not been full with orange juice. "So," Edward continued. "About the fundraiser tonight–"

"You going?"

"We have to," Edward stared at him as if that was the most obvious answer in the world. In Tennessee, Emmett had never been to an event before. Not once. Not even a birthday party. "What? You weren't planning on ditching were you?"

"Not ditching," Emmett shook his head, his mouth full now with waffles. "It's just not my thing." He shrugged, going back to the food on his tray. He felt a little sick now, but the food was too good to leave.

"When was the last time you ate?"

Emmett raised an eyebrow. "Dinner. Last night. Why?"

"You're eating like you haven't seen food before," Edward said, ignoring every aspect of the previous conversation. Emmett shrugged.

"It's good food."

"I can't tell the difference," Edward said. "It's–"

"You grew up with it," Emmett said. "You're used to being treated. I'm not. Remember?"

It sounded far worse than what it'd sounded like in his head. Emmett stopped eating and rubbed his fingertips on a napkin, not looking up as he heard the door open.

"You know," Edward said. "You've got to stop cutting me off like that." Not unkindly, though, because when Emmett looked at him, he was smiling crookedly. "See you at the fundraiser tonight."

Emmett spent most of the day sleeping. Carlisle had left for work early, leaving Emmett a note on the kitchen table, knowing that Esme would have left to get a dress for the party, and Edward would be out doing … whatever he does.

Emmett, realising that nobody was home, got a proper look around the house. There were, in total, three game rooms, two living rooms, one pool house – _his_ pool house, for the time being – and a kitchen in both the basement and the first floor. There was dining rooms the size of a school auditorium, nearly, and a gym, three bathrooms, but surprisingly, only enough bedrooms so Emmett would have to stay in the pool house.

If he stayed, that was. He wasn't sure where he was going to go, after this, but it was clear that not everybody wanted to stay. As he pushed open a sliding door and laced his hands over the edge of the balcony bars, he sighed.

"Jasper!" came a woman's voice. His head snapped up, thinking that it was from inside the Cullen's house. But when he looked down, he saw a blonde woman coming out of a side door from the house next to him.

"If you don't hurry up," she went on, "I'm going to leave without you."

He made sure he was hid well enough – behind a tree – so that the woman didn't see him as a boy, _Jasper_, came out. He was different from what he'd expected for a woman of that class. He was wearing cowboy boots, a rough, brown leather jacket and a matching color cowboy hat.

Jasper frowned. "I'm here," he said gruffly. The woman rolled her eyes.

"Where's your sister?"

It was clear to Emmett now. The woman, and Jasper, was Rosalie's relatives. He came out from behind the tree, leaning against the wall and pulling out a cigarette as Rosalie came running out of the house after her mom and brother who were already getting inside of a mini red convertible.

By the time Carlisle had returned, Emmett was sprawled lazily on his bed, finding nothing interesting to buy the time. He'd already showered, using the new, name brand shampoos and shower gels that Esme had left him in a bag. Upon noticing the darkness of the sky and Carlisle's concerned voice shouting his name, he shot up from his bed quickly.

"Are we late?" Emmett ran his hands through his hair, pulling down the ends of his loose hooded jacket. He didn't particularly want to go to the fundraiser, but after dwelling around all day doing nothing; it seemed like a good thing to do.

"No," Carlisle said, rubbing his own, dusty blonde hair with his knuckles. "But we will be." He passed forward Emmett the Marc Jacobs suit that Esme had told him about. "Sorry," he went on as if it were his fault. Emmett shook his head.

"It's okay," he mumbled, "um–"

"You best be getting ready," Carlisle said, handing Emmett a tie and quickly shuffling out of the pool house. "See you soon."

"Yeah," Emmett said, but Carlisle was already passing past the pool towards the main house. He smirked as he picked up the dry cleaned and pressed suit. He pulled it out of the package and quickly dressed into it, feeling immediately out of place.

"Are you ready yet?"

He turned, spotting Edward standing by the door. Emmett shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. It was a relief to him that Edward didn't exactly look like he fit in, either.

"Don't worry," Edward said, "we don't have to look good. We just have to make an appearance."

The hall in which the fashion show was being held had been decorated with white and gold everywhere. The made up stage, a long catwalk running in a thin line through half of the hall, held a DJ station at the back with music bobbing in the background. The seats, all plastered around beautifully decorated tables, had folded name tags on each one.

As Emmett finally found his way towards the Cullen table, after awkwardly passing through crowds of people who looked at him curiously, he collapsed into his seat, breathing a sigh of relief. A waiter handed him a glass of champagne and he shook his head, not bothering to look up.

"That's okay," he heard Esme say, "no thank you."

Emmett looked up at her and she raised her eyebrows. "Be polite," she mouthed, taking a sip of her own champagne. Emmett nodded, turning back to the waiter to take the champagne, but he'd already gone.

The fashion show started with loud, pop music blaring through the hall. As Rosalie introduced the show, her eyes glazed around the place. When she noticed Emmett, she smiled. "I hope you enjoy the show," she spoke into the microphone, still smiling as she turned towards the back of the catwalk, introducing her friend. Edward tensed from next to Emmett.

"What?" Emmett asked.

"That's …" he stared at the stage, his mouth open agape. "Bella Swan."

Emmett turned back to the stage, seeing the brunette friend of Rosalie walk confidently towards the end. She placed a hand on her hip and flashed a grin to the crowd before turning back to the end and disappearing behind the curtain. She hugged Rosalie tightly before letting go.

"Oh …" she pulled off her heels. "My …" she pulled out a clip from her hair making it fall loose against her bare shoulders. "God!" she screamed, blushing a deep red. She smiled, none the less.

"You were amazing!" Rosalie protested, giggling. She pulled out a bottle of champagne from a plastic bag at the side of the clothes rack and gulped some, passing the bottle to Bella. She shook her head.

"No thanks."

Rosalie shrugged, turning around to walk to the end of the stage. Bella slipped on a pair of flats and followed, leaning over Rosalie, watching the fashion show continue. They passed the champagne bottle between them until it was finished and it was time for Rosalie and Bella to join the other models on stage and collect things like flowers, chocolates, and announce the grand total of money raised.

"Where now?" Bella skipped alongside Rosalie, flashing grins at people around her who congratulated her. Rosalie rolled her eyes, laughing.

"I don't know," she said but stopped at the edge of the door of the courtyard where people in her grade were smoking and sharing alcohol, far away from the parents in the main hall. She saw Emmett, standing next to Edward Cullen, playing with an empty plastic cup in his hand.

"Emmett!" she said, pulling Bella along to see him. The champagne made her feel light headed and dizzy and she almost fell. "Oops," she giggled. "Sorry."

Emmett widened his eyes. "Whoa, are you okay?"

Before Rosalie could answer, Bella scoffed. "Who are _you_?" she said, slurring slightly. She was more of a lightweight than Rosalie. "And why are you touching my best friend?"

"I wasn't–"

"Bella this is Emmett," Rosalie told her, smiling at Emmett. "He's Edward's cousin and he's staying with the Cullen's for a while."

"Who's Edward?" Bella muttered, sipping from a plastic cup. Rosalie caught her before she could fall.

"Easy there," Rosalie whispered before turning back to Emmett. "Sorry. I'm going to have to–"

"No, that's fine," Emmett smiled. "Go ahead."

Before Rosalie could manage to even lead Bella away, Royce was already yelling from the other end of the courtyard. Rosalie gritted her teeth together, sighing. "Royce," she began, but he had already made a B-line towards Emmett.

"Hey, buddy," Royce began harshly, "just saw ya talking to my girlfriend."

"Royce, man," Edward started, appearing from seemingly nowhere. But when he saw Bella, he stopped himself from talking and froze. "Er, never mind."

"No," Royce glared directly at Edward. "What? What is it?"

"Nothing I was–"

Royce's clenched fist came towards Edwards face, hitting his nose and shedding a little blood. Edward stumbled back, falling down onto a drinks table. "You have a problem with me?" Royce yelled. He was obviously drunk. "Huh? Do ya?"

He seemed to have forgotten about Emmett and turned towards Rosalie, grabbing her and kissing her lips. Rosalie struggled against his hold while an ever growing crowd gasped as Emmett stepped forward, grabbing a hold of the crook of Royce's neck, pulling him away from Royce. He slammed onto the concrete floor but quickly regained himself and stood up, ready to hit Emmett. He wasn't even nearly quick enough, though, as Emmett's white knuckles connected with Royce's face.

"Oh my God," Bella mumbled. Rosalie nodded, tears stinging behind her eyes. Quickly, and without thinking, she turned and ran. Bella followed soon afterwards and Royce's cries of pain soon became quieter.

"Here," Edward passed Emmett an icepack. "I never did get a chance to thank you for–"

"Doesn't matter," Emmett replied, leaning back against the kitchen counter and closing his eyes.

The night before had proved to be a disaster, just like Emmett had imagined. After punching Royce – and apparently it was his fault the drinks table broke – Carlisle and Esme drove them both home straight away. They hadn't said one word to Emmett and when they pulled up to the house, Esme had scurried away to her bedroom, ignoring Carlisle. As soon as she'd slammed the door, Carlisle turned to his son and Emmett.

"What happened, boys?" he sighed. It didn't seem like a question so they stared politely on cue, not saying a word. Carlisle paused for a minute. "I've got to go," he loosened his tie, "see if Esme's okay. I'll speak to you both in the morning."

But he hadn't spoken to them. He'd gone away to work, leaving another note with _we'll talk later_ written on it. Esme had gone, too, presumably to work or maybe shopping again. Anything to get out of her house and away from the _criminal_, as she called him.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked. When Emmett opened his eyes, he saw Edward staring at him nervously. In the morning light, it was clear that he had a black eye and a bruised lip. Royce must have hit him hard, but not as hard as Emmett had hit Royce.

Emmett closed his eyes again, not answering Edward's question and instead breathing deeply through his nose. He almost wished that he was back home because no matter how much his life was screwed up there, it was nowhere near as bad as what had happened here.

Somewhere between closing his eyes for the second name and the doorbell ringing, Edward had slipped off. He went to play his game and it was clear as the sound of people screaming and cars beeping flooded through to the kitchen.

Emmett opened his eyes again, trailing miserably towards the door. He sighed as he opened it, but he wasn't expecting to see who he did.

"Hey," Rosalie said, placing her hands into her jeans pockets. "I just came to see if you were okay."

"Yeah," Emmett said, leaning against the door frame. "I'm okay."

"You don't look it …" Rosalie said, trailing off at the end. She squeezed her eyes shut for a second before laughing nervously. "I mean, you look tired, and hungry, and your hand …"

"I'm okay," Emmett repeated, sighing. Rosalie nodded.

"Well–"

"Look, I'm not sure now is a good time," Emmett said. Rosalie stared at him, taken a back. "With everything that went on with Royce, I'm not sure that … Well, I don't think I'm going to be here long enough for us to be friends, anyway."

"What?" Rosalie asked, hoping that she'd misheard that whole thing. "You mean …"

"I'm leaving," Emmett finished her sentence, nodding. "Yeah."

"And the Cullens. Do they know?"

"They don't need to know," Emmett shrugged. "They're going to kick me out anyway. What's the point in waiting until the time is right for them?"

"Emmett–"

"Don't," Emmett shook his head. "Look, I think you should leave."

Rosalie stayed still for a moment before turning away from the house as Emmett closed the door. She walked, getting faster with each step, towards her house, towards her up-tight, self-absorbed mother and towards her boyfriend who she wasn't even sure she wanted to see anymore. She walked, and when she reached her house, she slammed her door shut, running straight to her room.

"So you're really leaving?"

Emmett jumped and quickly turned. In front of him, Edward stood with two controllers in hand. Emmett sighed, nodding his head. "Look, man, I–"

"No!" Edward shook his head. "You're running from your problems like they can't be fixed but …"

He didn't continue. Instead, he turned, throwing a controller on the floor and slamming the living room door shut. Emmett waited until he heard the sound of the cars and people before sighing again.

He retreated to the pool house and packed whatever he had left. In a neat pile on the bed, he left the suit and tie that Carlisle had rented with a simple note which said

_Thank you._

**AN – **I hope you enjoyed! Please review so I know whether to continue or not. (: Btw, if anybody here actually watched the O.C, this story isn't going to be exact, but it'll follow a lot of storylines. And if you didn't watch the O.C, you're seriously missing out. Best show ever!


	2. Chapter 2

**AN – **Thank you for reviewing! I hope you enjoy this (slightly longer) chapter.

Also … **Disclaimer: **I think if I could, I would just copy and paste _everything_ Seth Cohen said and place it in my story. He's just too funny. And he's also _exactly_ how I pictured my Edward (not looks wise … I love Rob). So, if any of the quotes seem familiar … They belong to the creators of The O.C while the characters of course belong to Stephenie M.

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**CHAPTER TWO**

* * *

It only occurred to Emmett that he didn't actually know where he was going when he reached La Push.

He vaguely remembered the place from only a few days ago when Carlisle Cullen had driven him from the police station towards Forks, but other than that, it was strange and peculiar to him. He didn't know what he was going to do and where he was going to go.

He carried on walking until he heard rustling in a nearby bush and froze on the spot. Thinking it was just a squirrel; he started off again steadily, but physically had to stop when somebody in a wheelchair rolled themselves out in front of him. Literally.

The man, around Carlisle's age or possibly older, turned himself so he was facing Emmett. Then, his face set to stone and he glared right at Emmett's eyes. "What are you doing in La Push, boy?" he asked gruffly.

"I …" Emmett started. _Ran away? _he thought. The words somehow didn't leave his mouth when he tried to speak, like he was lying, so he settled for a shrug. The man in the wheelchair looked less than impressed, but thankfully a boy of about sixteen with long, tatty hair came and put a hand on the man's shoulder, stopping him.

"Dad," he groaned, rolling his eyes. His voice seemed not to match his body. He was buff, sure, but his long hair and wide mouth made him seem a little childish. But his voice was deep; much, much deeper than Emmett's, and that was saying something.

"Sorry about him," the boy said, turning to Emmett, "I'm Jacob."

"Emmett."

"So," Jacob nodded, "what are you _really_ doing here?"

Again, Emmett shrugged. Jacob's dad stared intently at him, but Jacob just grinned. "Alright," he said after a few silent moments. "You don't have to tell me."

"He's in our land," was what Emmett swore he heard the man say. Their _land?_ Seriously, there were some weirdoes around this place. Jacob, on the other hand, seemed cool enough and he extended his hand for Emmett to shake.

"Yeah, sorry," Jacob said, nearly blushing like he was completely embarrassed at his eerie father. "You know where you going?"

Emmett pondered for a moment, but shook his head. Jacob chuckled. "You don't talk much, do you?" Emmett shook his head again. "Well, there's a barbeque with me and a few of my friends down on the beach. Want to come? At least then you'll be fuelled enough for the time you want to set off and leave."

After another silence, Jacob grinned, "Don't worry. We don't bite."

…

It was growing lighter and lighter by the second, making the fact Edward was wearing a turtle-necked, black sweater extremely unusual. He didn't care, though. He was going for Stealth. _And_, Edward thought as he pulled down the hem of the sweater, _it's also very slimming._

"Edward?"

He jumped so high at the voice that he dropped his skateboard and fell against the wall of his driveway. Then, he squeezed his eyes shut. "Mom, I can explain …"

"Why you're wearing something like you belong in Stealth?"

Edward's eyes snapped open. Of course it was her. It had to be. "Rosalie," he drawn out slowly, "you didn't see anything. Go home. Go home. Go home," he repeated in a quiet, magician like voice and waved his fingers around in front of Rosalie's face. She blinked tiredly at him.

"Right," she said, turning back to face the road. "So what are you really doing, Cullen?"

Edward sighed, rubbed his hands through his messy, blonde hair and then shrugged. "I … I was going to find Emmett," he said.

He didn't expect Rosalie to be so … _okay_ with that. She just shrugged her shoulders. "You are? Good luck. I now understand the whole _Stealth_ thing. Though it _is_ making me kind of uncomfortable."

"Okay," Edward laughed and ignored her last comment, "so you're not going to … I don't know, offer to come?"

"Do you want me to come?"

"I'm not stupid, Rosalie. You may think I am but you don't know me–"

"–Just like I don't know Emmett–"

"Uh-huh. Except I've been going to school with you since kindergarten. Whatever, though," he stepped forward so he was next to Rosalie. "But I've seen the movies. The lead, pretty girl with a scary boyfriend always falls in love with the dropout. It's … it's like fate, or something. You just remind me of that girl."

Rosalie turned back to Edward. "Thanks, I guess," she smiled. "So, you really do want me to come?"

"Here's the thing," he replied, holding up his worn out skateboard that, even though Esme often begged, he refused to throw away._ Vintage_. "I need a ride."

"And where might you be going?"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence before Edward flung the skateboard over the wall of his driveway. Upon hearing it hit the floor, he nodded back to Rosalie. "We just need to search the area … and La Push … and try and find him. He can't have gone far, right? So are you in?"

Rosalie hesitated for a moment before flicking out her cigarette and nodding. "Right. Yeah. I'm in."

…

Emmett was already on his fourth burger at the barbeque. Turns out the food was better than he expected. The others, though, Jacob's friends, had eaten twice as much as Emmett, or even more. They never, ever got full, not once, and Jacob's friend, Sam, and his girlfriend just made more for the growing group of people – did Jacob know everybody in the area? Though, thinking of how small of a place Forks/La Push was, that wasn't impossible.

"I don't go to school anymore," Emmett told Jacob, following an earlier conversation, like he just didn't care about his education. Jacob raised his eyebrows shockingly.

"Wait, what?" he questioned. "Honestly? I get home schooled, myself, but you've not got anywhere to go after summer finishes?"

"Not really," Emmett said truthfully. He didn't. In fact, he didn't even have anywhere to go today. If only Sam offered him the plush couch they have in the front of their small, beach shack and he'd have a place to crash for the night…

It was already growing dark. They'd talked, drank, ate and watched sports all day. All of them – Embry, Sam, Paul, Emmett, Jacob, Billy and Quill. Most of the guys were mixed race – tanned, tall and had the appetite of heavily pregnant woman. They could eat anything, which explained all the weight they had in just their muscles.

Quill – a nickname for his real, 'embarrassing' Italian name – rest his feet up on Sam's table and took a swig out of his beer can. "So," he coughed, "where you from anyway?"

"Originally Tennessee," Emmett answered. "But I've lived in Boston with my mom for a while."

"And what brings you to La Push, boy?" Billy Black, Jacob's father, asked. Once you got to know him, which Emmett felt that he had even in such a small amount of time, he was pretty alright. He grinned like Jacob at Emmett.

"I was staying with a … a family friend," he lied, rubbing his temples anxiously. "Well, my mom's best friend. She's kind of like an auntie to me so … so I'm staying there. For now, anyway. But I kind of got into some trouble so I saved them the hassle of looking after me and left."

"Is that what happened to your hand?" Paul unlinked his hand from around a petite blonde's neck and pointed to Emmett's probably broken wrist. Emmett nodded. "Sick. So you punched a guy or?"

Emmett grinned, too, now. "Yeah," he said. "He was playing up and hurt my friend … my cousin … my mom's best friend's son."

Everybody nodded; each either taking small sips of their beer or taking a bite of a hotdog or piece of grilled chicken. Jacob turned up the volume on the sport's game they were watching. Lakers, or something; Emmett never really paid attention to game's like that. He preferred football or boxing. Though never wrestling; the tights didn't appeal to him.

"Hey," Emmett nudged Quill on the arm after a while. "Do you have a lighter?" Quill nodded, dug into his pocket and tossed him one. "Thanks, man," he whispered and trailed over to the front door, closing it quietly behind him.

If he hadn't have noticed the red, BMW convertible just a few metres away from him and it hadn't been a huge tip off, he definitely recognised the two people getting out of the car. He cursed under his breath as they looked around them.

"Emmett!"

Rosalie gasped happily. She was happy to see him and happy to know that he was safe, but now she just had to come up with a plan. She didn't trust that the always-late, never-organised Edward Cullen had come up with one, and she could modestly admit that she was quite quick with these things.

Emmett managed a smile and stepped off the porch of Sam and Emily's shack. He flicked out his cigarette then and placed his hands into his pockets coolly, as if he didn't intend on actually leaving and was just talking casually to neighbours. "What are you two doing here?" he asked. "How did you know where–"

"We didn't," Edward snapped out of his thoughts – now he was attempting to come up with a plan – and shrugged. "We've been looking for hours." Then, he frowned. "You've got a good hiding place. Who lives here? Or nobody? Did you just find an empty house and stay there for the day?"

"It's not a hiding place, Edward," Emmett sighed. "And just a few new friends."

Before Edward or Rosalie could question Emmett's new 'friends', the door of the shack flung open. "Emmett?" Out stepped Jacob, and horrible realisation hit Edward quickly. He frowned again, while Rosalie just stared at him agape. _He looks like a wolf!_

"Jacob Black?" Edward mouthed. Jacob seemed to be just as shocked to see Edward as Sam and Billy came out behind him and stood with him on the porch.

"Cullen?" Sam scowled. "What the hell are you– Wait, Emmett?"

An awkward, confused silence fell over the six of them. Rosalie stared fascinatingly, Edward glared, Billy, Sam and Jacob scowled and Emmett wished he hadn't thrown away his cigarette. The atmosphere was far too tense for him and his muscles ached, whether it was from the cold or what, he didn't know.

"So," Jacob pulled a face after a too-long pause, "you're staying with the _Cullens_?"

Emmett nodded before squinting. "Can somebody please explain what's going on?"

"I second that," Rosalie nodded. "I've never been more confused."

"Jacob Black …" Edward frowned childishly, preparing to tell a story, but then his face hardened and he set his glare on Jacob. "It all started in third grade."

"Before I moved to Forks after my dad's promotion, I went to the Government school in La Push. The public school." At this, Rosalie shuddered, but Edward continued in a tone as if he was telling a ghost story. "I had a crush on a certain brown-haired girl. Bella Swan."

Jacob smirked now while Rosalie just nodded, feeling far away and still confused. _Bella went to public school?_ "She was bubbly, smart and had lots of friends. And just as I worked up the courage to talk to her, finally, a boy named Jacob with cool long hair and a biker's jacket moved and bam!"

Everybody jumped and Edward pouted. "She hated me. She wouldn't even look at me. In fact, she did once, to glare. She laughed in my direction. And he wasn't any better. He was popular, just like her, and they were the cutest eight year old couple in the whole world, while I was the annoying court jester who got picked on and laughed at."

Another silence fell over the group of them. This time, Edward scowled, Jacob and Sam grinned – Sam had met Bella a few times during the summers when she came to visit her father after moving to the other end of Forks – and Emmett and Rosalie exchanged a wary glance. Billy had rolled back in somewhere between the beginning of the story and the end.

Finally, Rosalie let out a giggle. "That was the lamest story I've ever heard in my life."

A comfortable type of quiet hit them. Emmett pulled out his pack of cigarettes, Rosalie leant against her car waiting for Edward who stared at the floor and rubbed a stone under his foot, defeated, while Jacob and Sam talked amongst themselves. Jacob turned to Emmett after a few minutes.

"I don't know why you run away," Jacob said. "Well, that's a lie. I'd run away if I had to live with the Cullens–" Edward and Rosalie rolled their eyes "–but you're welcome to stay here for the night to clear your head."

"That won't be necessary," Edward laughed.

"Yeah," Rosalie agreed. "Emmett's coming home with us."

"Actually," Emmett exhaled and retreated back up a few steps of the porch. "I think I want to stay here tonight."

"What?" Rosalie and Edward both scoffed in disbelief.

"You heard him, Blondie," Jacob smirked smugly. "He wants to stay here."

Emmett wanted to smile at Rosalie, but she glared at her shoes and refused to look up. He just looked at her sadly before turning to Edward who looked angry again. "I'm sorry, man. Thank you, though, for everything."

"Whatever," Edward said, unusually sour for his boyish voice. He turned back to Rosalie's car. "Can you take me home? I don't want to stay here anymore."

"Sure," Rosalie muttered. As she opened her car door, she turned back to Emmett. "Well, it was nice to meet you. Edward, I only wish your cousin from Boston had stayed longer."

Then, she got in the car and drove away.

…

Emmett's back ached and was red raw from staying on Sam's couch, but it wasn't hard for him to sit up when a full breakfast was on offer. Emily towered over him, holding a lot of the same motherly concepts as Esme Cullen, even though she was only a few years older than him. She handed him the full tray – it even had the flower and two drinks that Esme's had, too – and smiled.

"Thank you," he breathed, picking up a knife and fork and cutting half of his bacon. He placed it on the toast that Emily had buttered exactly how he liked, and then grinned at her. "For letting me stay and for the food."

"That's no problem," she said. "Honestly. You're a lot nicer and politer than a few other of Sam's friends."

"You don't like Quill or Paul?" Emmett asked. Other than his often smug look and attitude, Emmett couldn't think of any reason why anybody could hate Jacob. Emily laughed.

"Not them. You're not the first half-stranger to stay at our house," she explained. "And the others … well; they're not the nicest of people."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Emmett said politely, keeping up his Mr Nice Guy attitude. It was hard to hate any of them, really. The whole pack was entirely sweet and couldn't have had a bad bone in their body. Except maybe Seth Clearwater, who had had a wrestling fight with his tomboy older sister and ended up almost breaking her nose. He was nice to Emmett, though, which was good enough.

Emily smiled, dusted imaginary crumbs off her apron and patted her knees. "I best go get the pancakes on the go. I'm expecting the others soon and, well, you might not have known them long, but you've seen their eating habits." Emmett grinned. He had. "I hope you enjoy your food, Emmett."

"Thank you," he said, and then she disappeared into the kitchen.

Emmett ate, drank both his scorching coffee and orange juice (to calm his burning mouth) and then showered in the downstairs bathroom. Emily had left him a few clean towels, a clean toothbrush and a change of t-shirt and underwear – _"don't worry; they're new, not Sam's."_

He pondered whether he should leave yet after finding the house empty. While he was in the shower, he had heard the boys come in and presumably finish off the pancakes that Emily had made. He stayed in there for extra longer, avoiding going out until he heard everybody had cleared.

The house was a lot smaller than Carlisle and Esme's. It was built out of wood with lots of panels and pillars everywhere. It was cosy, with large stove fire, and had sheep skin rugs covering the hard, laminate-with-nails-poking-out floor. It was okay, though, for a young couple who seemed to be the parents of the group, having none themselves. Or at least none visible around except Billy, who was obviously adored by all of the boys, and seemingly the leader of the pack.

He peaked around a few of the rooms – without delving into any drawers, boxes or cupboards that were nothing to do with him – before settling down onto the couch in the front room. Emily and Sam must have both gone out with the boys, too, because when the door went, nobody came out from any rooms that he didn't look in (if their door was closed, he respected the privacy call).

"Who is it?" he called, stuffing his hands into his pockets and leaning against the wood door. He heard a timid girl respond and straightened immediately.

"It's me."

"Rosalie?" he opened the door and his eyebrows burrowed together. Why was she here?

"I just thought I'd come and see you," she said, placing her own hands in her pockets and rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. "I'm not supposed to be here but … well, we miss you. We all do. I know I didn't really have a chance to actually get to know you very well and … well, I don't live with Esme or Carlisle, but–"

Emmett felt the need to cut her off. "How are they?" he asked, genuinely concerned. He seemed to be getting in everybody's bad books lately, especially Edward's, who had gained a friend – his only one – and lost him all in the space of four days.

Rosalie, biting her lip, shrugged nervously. "I haven't spoken to them."

"Oh."

"Well," Rosalie smiled. "That's okay, right? We can go back and–"

Emmett shook his head. "I can't go back."

"But–"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Will you at least talk to me?" Rosalie asked after a few moments, looking up from under her long eyelashes, almost pleading with him. She _had_ lied to Royce this morning, telling him that she had to go shopping with her mom and that she couldn't meet up with him. He wouldn't bother coming to La Push, he had no reason to. But she did, and she wasn't going to leave until she spoke to Emmett properly and at least tried to get him home. In reality, Rosalie didn't even want to talk to Royce. She'd rather spent the day with Emmett. He was different; not like all the guys she already knew. It was refreshing to have somebody like him around. She just had to get him to stay.

"I can't leave," Emmett said regretfully. "But … but maybe it's not a good idea anyway. What about Royce?" he asked as if reading her mind. She wasn't worried, though, and she just grinned up at him.

"Come on, please? Royce won't find out," she said positively, "I promise."

After pondering about it for a few long seconds, he nodded, knowing that Rosalie wouldn't leave him alone until he spoke to her. "Alright," he sighed. "Let's go."

…

"I still can't believe he just up and left."

"That's what boys like him do," Esme said, her voice lacking in the usual calm manner she held. She wasn't mad, no, definitely not. More upset, really, and worried. "He's a criminal. He has to just go before he gets in more trouble. But here, he got into trouble _before_ leaving."

While his parents spoke, Edward remained quiet. He hadn't told them that he'd found Emmett, nor had he told them, in fact, that he'd actually gone looking. Carlisle sighed and took a sip of the whiskey he'd grown comfort in the past few days.

"He wasn't that bad," Carlisle said. He quickly continued after Esme's head snapped up to him angrily, "I mean … Royce was bad, too, and look what Emmett did; he stuck up for Edward."

On this cue, Edward nodded. Esme bit her lip. It _was_ true. And she knew how bad Royce could get sometimes, but she never thought about it fully until now. Silently, she finished her salad before coughing into her napkin and taking a sip of water. Then, as if being controlled by a button, she stood up quickly.

"Right! We need to go."

Carlisle and Edward remained slow, sharing a wary glance. "Honey," Carlisle started, reaching out to hold her hand. Esme ignored him. "Go where?"

"We need to find Emmett," she said breathlessly. "We need to. We just need to make sure he's safe and well. Then … well, I don't know what we'll do then. But come on! He's still our responsibility and he's still a minor."

Edward hesitated while his parents grabbed their car keys and jackets. He slowly closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose before speaking in a rushed tone. "I know where is."

Carlisle and Esme stopped in their tracks while Edward smiled sheepishly. "You … you knew?" Esme asked, raising her eyebrows. "This whole time?"

Edward's shoulders dropped and he blinked at his mom somewhat sarcastically. "Mom, it's been a day."

"_Still_," Esme said, remaining strangely calm. She ran her hands through her hair while Carlisle shook his head. A lot had happened in their family in the past few days which nobody had expected. Still, maybe it was Carlisle's fault for offering to take care of Emmett …

"Right, get the keys, Carlisle," Esme said, making her way towards the door. "Now! Edward, you're grounded." Edward nodded. That seemed fair. "But first, you need to tell us exactly where he went. Then we're going to have to bring him home."

Despite everything, Edward couldn't help but smile. "Home? Like, his home?"

Esme rolled her eyes, patting Edward on the back to edge him towards the door. "We'll see."

"So that's a yes."

"We'll see I said!"

…

"Thank you," Rosalie leant her head on Emmett's shoulder and sighed happily. Today, for the most part, had been good. For her, anyway. "For talking to me today. It felt good to get that all off my chest."

"That's okay," Emmett said. _It has been a good day_, he thought. And even for him it felt good to talk to somebody.

First of all, Rosalie let go off the steam regarding Royce. She had been with him on and off for a few years, but he always screwed up – he'd already cheated on her twice. She vowed that she wouldn't go back to him, but she always did. Stupidly. He brought her flowers or something to make him forgive her, but Rosalie wasn't stupid. She never was.

She _had_ to stay with him for the sake of her father's company. Ironically, Royce King's father, also named Royce, was practically royalty – at least in the world of banking and business. His bank sponsored – and helped pay for a lot of the time – Rosalie's father's company. He was an architect and started off nowhere, but with the help of Royce Sr and on-going loans, the Hales had made quite a name for themselves.

"I kind of don't want to go back," Rosalie admitted, straightening up in her seat and crossing her legs underneath her on the bench. It was already dark and the stars had come out. The night, for Forks, was extremely pretty, with no clouds blocking the shiny stars.

"Neither do I," Emmett responded quietly after a few minutes.

"I'm afraid you have no say in that."

Emmett jumped and whizzed around on the bench to face the voice. Rosalie almost fell onto the sand, but ended up standing up and hurrying over to the side while the three of them stepped forward.

Carlisle, Esme and Edward – the latter with his head down and staring at the sand as if it were extremely interesting. Rosalie blushed furiously and kicked a stone away with her shoe. She hadn't even thought this might happen; the same with Emmett, who was now standing up and burrowing his eyebrows at them.

Esme sighed, resisting the urge to pull Emmett into her hold. Instead, she stared at him. "What the _hell_ were you thinking? We almost phoned the police! You worried us sick." She turned to Rosalie. "And you, Rose? Didn't you think of telling us?"

"It wasn't her fault," both Edward and Emmett said. It was completely weird for Edward, whom she had never spoken to fully before Emmett came, to be sticking up for her, but she smiled softly in Emmett's direction. He looked less than bothered about this surprise showing.

"Sorry, Rose," Esme's hand came to her mouth and she softened her glare. "Are you okay?" Rosalie nodded. "Good. Well, do you have a lift home; we can take you, with Emmett of course?"

"I–"

"I'm staying here," Emmett said, cutting off Rosalie from staying.

It was Carlisle who stepped forward this time. "Son, you're … well, come on … a bench on the beach?"

"I'll stay at Sam's," he said confidently. He'd actually not thought of Sam, Jacob, Quill, Embry or Paul yet. Even Emily, who was so kind to him that morning. He hadn't thought of any of them.

"Who?"

"Sam. He's a friend."

Esme crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. Edward wasn't half as difficult as Emmett. "And have you known _Sam_ for long?"

"Sure."

Esme couldn't help but smile. "Come. Please? Just for a night, or however long you want … or need. Then we can try and get in touch with your mother and–"

"She's gone for good," Emmett informed her. He hadn't thought twice about his parents after being taken in by the Cullens. Though he hated to admit it (and probably sounded like a douche), Esme was more of a mother to him in three days than his own mother was in sixteen years.

He hesitated, none the less, thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong. But even Edward, who he was sure hated him, looked at him sincerely, silently asking him to say yes. "Okay. Thank you, but what about Jacob and Sam?"

"Yeah," Edward drawn, laughing slightly. "Forget about him."

Emmett laughed, and it felt like every weight had been lifted off his shoulders. At least nobody had mentioned the situation with Royce. Except Rosalie …

"Rosalie?" he asked quickly as Esme and Carlisle started towards their car. Edward stayed behind, waiting for Emmett, while Rosalie still looked at the floor and shuffled a little. Since when had the most popular girl in Forks been so shy? It baffled even Emmett, who took the impression that she was confident, while Edward just rolled his eyes.

Why is _she_ still around? He thought (not admitting that he was madly and deeply in love with her best friend).

"I'm fine," she reassured him. "Go ahead. I'll see you tomorrow or something?"

Emmett nodded, opening the car door and stepping in. "Sure." Esme flashed a smile at Rosalie and waved once while Edward sulked in the back. Carlisle waited until Rosalie had got into her own car before he started the engine.

**AN – **wait a second where's Alice and Jasper? I promise more Alice/Bella/Jasper activity in the next chapter! Plus, I'm sorry if this chapter sucked which I expected truthfully but I really wanted to upload it and stop you guys from waiting. When you review (please *puppy dog eyes*) you are welcome to hate on this crappy ending haha. Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**AN – **I think it's about time for a happy (ish) chapter … xD

**Disclaimer: **Stephenie Meyer still owns Twilight, thus the website being called _Fanfiction._ I'm just a mere fan that enjoys messing with her characters.

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE**

* * *

"So there's been no word from your mom at all?"

Emmett shook his head at Rosalie's question. Carlisle had assured him that since his mother was nowhere to be found – she'd fled the house she shared with Emmett's step-father after kicking Emmett out – himself and Esme would be his guardians until they could get a hold of her. The police station had provided all the information needed for his mother to get hold of him in case she decided to come home, but it wasn't looking likely.

"That sucks," Rosalie muttered, playing around with the straw of her milkshake. It'd been three days since Carlisle and Esme had essentially forgiven Emmett and brought him back home to stay with them in Forks, and so far everything had been fine.

Edward spoke next. "Pretty much," he commented, "but the biggest thing that sucks is school. It's in just four weeks and my body is physically and my brain emotionally not ready for this kind of kid _jail_. It doesn't get better that I'm _grounded_. For the last weeks of summer!"

Rosalie pulled her tongue out as Emmett laughed. "Don't act like you had any plans anyway," she joked, kicking Edward under the table. He mocked her pulling tongues face before frowning and staring at the table.

The bell of the diner rung out clearly as the door opened, and Emmett casually flashed a glance over to it before his face hardened. He nudged Edward and held up his menu so at least half his face was covered. Rosalie raised an eyebrow while Edward ducked, too, before his face hardened as well, obviously just seeing what Emmett had.

"What?" Rosalie asked. Emmett pointed over to the door and held up his menu higher over his face. Edward did the same as Rosalie turned.

"_Royce_?"

"Shh!" Edward warned cautiously. "You've got to get out of here. Get away from us."

Rosalie turned properly so she was facing Edward now and she glared at him. "Yeah, out of the same door that my boyfriend just came through. Good idea, Cullen."

"Just go!"

Rosalie did the dreaded – Bella wouldn't be proud – and got on her hands and knees, crawling over until she reached a table at the back of the diner. Royce and his friends dawdled by the door while Rosalie slipped easily to an empty seat and held up a menu to make it seem like she was just another customer. She wanted badly for Royce to leave so she could go back to Emmett, but to her dismay, he had already found her.

"Rose?" he exclaimed rather too loudly and popped his gum before smirking. Rosalie rolled her eyes, but played it off by twisting a piece of hair between her fingers and forcing a smile. Emmett and Edward hid behind their menus that they weren't one bit interested in. Emmett just wanted to make sure Rosalie was okay, while Edward was dong some sort of weird leg motion, as if trying to get on the floor so he could do the same as Rosalie and crawl away. He didn't want another bloody nose courtesy of Royce.

Royce swaggered smugly over to Rosalie, popping his gum a further time before twisting it around his finger and pulling it out of his mouth. Rosalie would have grimaced if he wasn't already sitting himself down by her and edging his head towards her's for a kiss. She settled for a kiss on the cheek.

"Babe," Royce whined, adjusting himself in the seat so he was slouching messily. Rosalie sneaked a peak over at Emmett who had been approached by a waitress with brunette hair that stuck out in all different directions. Somehow, she made the boyish look work and she smiled bubbly at Edward and Emmett. Rosalie frowned.

"Wait, what?" Rosalie asked, remembering that Royce had been speaking to her. She couldn't help but catch a glimpse at his equally disgusting friends, who were slouched, too, and still had the chewing gum in their mouths, unlike Royce who had thankfully threw his away.

"I asked you a question," he stared at her harshly, "the party tomorrow? Remember?"

Rosalie was still playing with her hair when she asked casually, "What party?"

Royce and his friends exchanged a look – one that Rosalie liked to call the douchebag look – and burst out into a fit of uncontrollable, snorting-type laugher that Rosalie just had to roll her eyes at. Royce and his boys were so immature.

She looked again at Edward and Emmett. The waitress was still there, but this time she was leaning over their table and they were giggling about something that she desperately wanted to know. She caught herself frowning again, but somebody else did, too.

"Rose?" Royce followed her wandering gaze before she could look away. His expression almost looked amused, and then deadly, and then smug, and then he smirked and stood up from the lazy position he had set himself in. Rosalie brought up her hands to stop him, but he was already walking over to Emmett and Edward's table.

Rosalie didn't make out the first few words, but it was clear that Emmett had an upper hand in the fight, even if Royce's friends were older than them all – in their late 20s at least – and had muscles bigger than the Hulk. Nearly.

"You know …" Rosalie could just make out as she walked up to the table. The rest of the speech was blocked by the screeches – of joy? of pain? of excitement? There was no telling – of Royce's idiotic, imbecile friends. They were blocking the way of what was happening between Emmett and Royce.

It was clear now that it was Emmett talking. It sounded as if he was gritting his teeth. "You know what I love most about rich kids?" his hand connected full on to Royce's jawline, and the shouting of Royce's friends stopped as he slammed onto the table. Everybody fell silent. "Nothing."

Emmett and Edward could just grab their jackets and run the hell out of the diner before Royce could catch them. He still went after them, but the small body of the waitress, who had failed to collect their orders before Royce barged over, just managed to slip through Royce and his friends and toss Emmett something.

Emmett caught them in between his cupped hands. "What for?" he yelled. Royce was gaining on him as they reached the parking lot, and the waitress stopped just outside the diner and smiled.

"You'll see the bike," she informed Emmett. Royce couldn't care less what the waitress was saying so he chose to tune her out, not hearing her plans to help Emmett – the guy who she had known for fewer than five minutes. "Unlock it and you're set to go."

Surely enough, when Emmett rounded into the parking lot, a purple bike was chained up to a barrier. Edward watched out for Royce while Emmett fumbled the keys in his hands, trying to open the padlock. "Hurry!" Edward yelled, but he was late, because Emmett had already tossed the lock to the side.

And luckily for Edward, he had brought his skateboard that day. He didn't need to ride on the back pegs of the BMX. Somebody climbed onto them, though, before Emmett could get going. Edward warily glanced at the new passenger.

"Wh–"

It was Rosalie who stopped Emmett from speaking. "Just go!"

…

"How do you think we're going to get the girl's bike back?" Edward played with his hands nervously, still on the lookout for Royce and his biker looking friends, even though they were on the beach near La Push and couldn't have been faster than the others. There was no way they'd catch up with them in time to know where they were going or to follow them.

"Stop being so paranoid," Rosalie rolled her eyes and laid her palms out on the sand, leaning backwards. She squinted at the blazing sun. It was unusual, yet slightly nice, for the weather to be this good in Forks. "We'll drop it off at the diner tomorrow."

"Are you sure we won't be banned?" Emmett laughed. He found the whole situation completely bizarre yet still completely hilarious at the same time. Rosalie was the same, but Edward wasn't as calm as them.

"I'm more worried about my parents finding out."

Emmett tensed. "Yeah … there is that, too."

"Promise me that if they do you won't run away?" Edward raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I can face the wrath of Dr Carlisle Cullen alone."

Emmett grinned. "I won't leave."

"Good," he said, "and I have it in good faith that they won't kick you out."

"I guess I should be worried about Royce," Rosalie quickly added, still aimed at the sun. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "And if my mom finds out …"

"Don't worry," Edward smiled. "We'll stick up for you."

Emmett snapped a twig in half and threw it into the ocean. Then, he turned to Edward and smirked. "Do I see a friendship coming on?" Both Rosalie and Edward rolled their eyes. Rosalie would never admit that Cullen was actually pretty cool, and Edward would never admit that Rosalie was more – and smarter than – what he thought. She wasn't just a shallow Barbie that only thought of herself.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Edward couldn't have jumped out of his skin more. It wasn't just the shock of the person who scared them by sneaking up on them, but it was the actual person who said it that made the whole situation more. He wasn't prepared! You see, when people like Edward talk to people like Bella Swan, they _have_ to prepare. It's necessary.

It's not easy being a loser who's desperately in love with the most popular girl in school.

"Rosalie?" Bella asked, raising a perfectly shaped, sceptic eyebrow at her best friend. She could excuse that she was with Emmett – who was actually pretty hot – but the likes of Edward Cullen? This is not okay.

"Hi, Bells," Rosalie said awkwardly. The freaking out of Edward next to her made her nervous. But Bella didn't spot anything and she got onto her knees on the sand and placed her hands on her hips.

"So what's going on here?" she asked intriguingly. She smiled in Emmett's direction, glared weirdly at Edward and then carried on raising an eyebrow at Rosalie. "And why are you _here_? Shouldn't you be with Royce?"

Rosalie said the only thing she could thing of which unfortunately made her want to slap herself. "Why are you?"

"I'm visiting a friend," Bella said and Edward couldn't help but feel his heart almost shatter with jealously. The only friend he knew of that Bella had in La Push was Jacob, though as he said, she was extremely popular, and no doubt had good friends in Russia, or Poland, or Kazakhstan, for that matter. "The bike?"

"A …" Rosalie didn't really know how to describe the diner girl. "Friend's. That's why I'm here. Visiting a friend."

The whole atmosphere between the four became sour after that. Edward still failed to work up the nerve to look at Bella, Emmett played with another twig, peeling it like it was a shoot of bamboo and he was a panda, while Rosalie and Bella had a feel between them that they'd never had before. Since when had two best friends that spent every moment together been so … _dysfunctional?_

With the confirmation that Bella wasn't going to leave – she crossed her legs and leant back against the sand like Rosalie – Edward went to pack up. He grabbed his jacket and turned to Emmett, still avoiding Bella, but she spoke up before he could leave.

"No, don't be put off by me," Bella said bitterly. "You can stay. Of course, Rosalie would rather hang out with _you_ than me. That's fine. You can stay."

Rosalie flinched back at the harsh words and Emmett smiled softly at her. He felt bad for Edward, too, who collapsed back on the sand, still not looking up. Bella smiled and turned to Rosalie. "So have you invited your new friends to the party tomorrow?"

Rosalie barely remembered Royce mentioning a party before he spotted Emmett and Edward. On seeing Rosalie's confused look, Bella sighed, "The huge back to school party? On Saturday? You've seriously forgot? Rose, this is our thing, we–"

"No, I remembered," Rosalie lied easily. "But … no, I didn't invite them." Bella was almost relieved – well, she wouldn't mind Emmett coming; actually, as long as he was single – before Rosalie continued, turning to Emmett and Edward, "You guys want to come?"

Edward wanted badly to laugh, but he resorted to not saying anything at all. He had gone to the same school as them both for years, and it was compulsory – even though organised by seniors – to go. Well, it was considered compulsory for the popular kids, the 'losers' were never spotted. They were invisible.

Exhibit A: Edward.

Emmett shook his head. "Should I really come? I don't even go to your school."

At this, Bella shuffled over so she was sitting practically on Emmett (she was just that close) and smiled warmly. Playing with her hands, she spoke softly, "We would love to have you there, right, Rose?" She flashed Rosalie a say-yes-before-I-kill-you look. Rosalie resisted rolling her eyes and nodded instead, giving Bella a sarcastic are-you-pleased-now glare.

Bella turned back to Emmett. "See? We really don't mind."

"I–"

"Great! You can come. Well, I'll text you the details and see you there," Bella prepared herself to leave. Rosalie might have wanted her to hang with them, but Bella had to go back to watching the hot collage seniors playing volleyball just down the beach. She was lucky that a few of them were single.

Instead of arguing, Emmett shrugged. "I don't have your number."

"You can get it off Rosalie!" Bella called, already setting off, spraying sand at Edward – coincidently by accident – as she ran through it and towards the other end of the beach. "Bye!" And after a few seconds, she had disappeared over a sand hill.

Edward pouted quickly afterwards and dusted himself of sand. "So about that party?" he muttered. Emmett nodded, agreeing with Edward's silent _I'd rather kill myself than go_.

"Please come," Rosalie pleaded. "It'll be fun. It always is, right, Edward?" she smiled cheerily while Edward sighed heavily. _No, they're not!_ "Well, I'll see you. Hopefully. I best get going and explain before I get beaten up with some Louis Vuittons."

"Ah," it was Edward's turn to lean back in the sand, "Forks' social scene waits."

"You know," Rosalie commented, standing up and clearing her legs of sand. "If you weren't such a sarcastic douche all the time, maybe people might actually like you." She turned to a smirking Emmett. "Remember, If you don't come, I'm going to have to put up with him all night.

Edward leant back on his fists as Rosalie walked away. _If Bella wasn't so popular and good looking, _he thought, _I might actually have a chance._

…

"Mom, I'm home!" Rosalie tossed her keys into the bowl on the side table next to her front door and took off her sand-filled jacket, hanging it up on the peg. She smirked to herself, wishing that she'd actually stayed longer with Emmett and Edward instead of going to catch Bella. They had spoken, briefly, and at the mention of a new Prada clutch that Rosalie had ordered, Bella had loosened up. After that, they left on a good note.

Lilly Hale made her way out of the kitchen, her face unclear because of the compact mirror she was holding in front of her face and the lipstick she was applying. When she took it down, she rudely, barely smiled at her daughter (although it might have just been the Botox that she had injected that day that made her face stiff).

"Good day?" Lilly asked, crossing past Rosalie and fixing her hair in the proper mirror next to the door. She managed another smile through the reflection but just looked like Cruella de Vil.

"Sure," Rosalie nodded. Why was Lilly being so friendly with her? She never normally bothered with her daughter's life other than to criticize or to borrow something.

"How was Royce?" Oh, so that was why.

Rosalie sighed, running her hands through her hair, obviously displeased at the fact her mother spent so much time worrying about Royce and less time on her happiness. "How do you know?"

"I had a very angry phone call from a very angry Mr King," Lilly attempted a raised eyebrow and waddled back to the kitchen (she'd tell you it was hard to walk in those skyscraper heels). Rosalie followed sheepishly. "And apparently a very pretty blonde girl had disrespected her rights and–"

"It's not the nineteen thirties, mom," Rosalie pointed out.

Lilly coughed mindlessly. "The point is … you left with the new country boy and Edward Cullen? Though I suppose Esme's son isn't the worse but …" She sighed. "Honey, do you really think now is the time to be acting this way towards Royce? Your father is doing very well for himself at the moment."

"Then why does he need Royce's parents?"

"That's the whole point," Lilly responded, taking out her anger on cutting the cucumber for that night's meal. That was unusual, too, as she'd never cooked a meal in her life. She usually left that to the house keeper or occasional chef that appeared every so often. "The reason your father is doing so well is because of Royce's parents. If you give up now, we'll plummet down and … let me put it this way; do you want to go to public school? Do you want to live in a shack?"

"Mom, don't overreact …"

"I'm not overreacting!" A piece of wandering cucumber flew from the chopping board and on top of Jasper's head. He appeared at the door of the kitchen, looking confused, of course, as his mother excused that and went to cutting a carrot. What she was planning to make, nobody had a clue.

Jasper picked the cucumber from the top of his hat and popped it into his mouth, sitting himself down next to Rosalie. "Who's died?" he asked, staring at the chopping board full of colourful vegetables.

"What?" Rosalie raised an eyebrow.

"Usually, when people we know die, mom goes into overload mom mood and starts acting like a desperate housewife. And then when her meltdown" – you can have it in good trust that Lilly Hale cooking is considered a meltdown – "is finished, she'll order Maria to clean up the mess."

Lilly slowly placed the knife down and breathed in through her nose. She spun around to face her children and smiled. "Next time, save the cowboy hat for the new boy." Then, she paced over to Jasper, took of his hat, forced it into the bin and strutted out of the kitchen like nothing had happened.

…

As soon as Lilly had left for her book club meeting, Rosalie glumly showered and changed into a pair of silk pyjamas and a throwover. She wasn't at all in the mood for seeing anybody, so she was overly annoyed when the doorbell rang. They had interrupted her self-mourning time – the time when she shut herself away in her bedroom, ate ice cream and watched Breakfast at Tiffany's.

She only had to open her bedroom door to see her house keeper, Maria, running up the stairs. She spoke in a heavy accent, "Miss, there's a very handsome man at the door for you. He says he needs to speak."

Rosalie smiled. Could it be Emmett? The whole idea of him knocking at her house was absurd but also oddly calming. It might be nice to talk to somebody and get out all her frustrations. She had learned that Emmett was a very good listener and also–

"Hey, babe."

She didn't get the chance to respond when wet lips were being pressed against hers. She lost her balance and fell against the wall, but the person just came with her, and forced his tongue into her mouth. Maria giggled to herself and hopped back down the stairs, going to clean up the rest of the mess that Lilly had made.

"Royce," Rosalie breathed, feeling a twinge of annoyance again. The thought of Emmett coming had made her feel okay again, but Royce and his stupid kiss just ruined it all. He grinned evilly down at her, looking like a serial killer, not a boyfriend.

"Babe," he followed her into her bedroom, assuming that it was okay to, and plopped himself down on her bed. "Have you thought about the party yet?"

"I'm not coming."

Royce ignored her and loosened the zip of his pants to get comfortable. Then, he propped up a pillow and leant against it, his tongue sticking out slightly. Rosalie was sitting by her desk, but she could still smell cigarettes and expensive cologne that stunk and clouded up her nose horribly.

"What are you wearing?"

"I'm not coming," she repeated.

Again, he ignored her. "I was thinking tight around," he gestured to his waist, "here," then his pants, "her," and then, with a grin, he gestured to his chest. "And here.

"I'm not coming!"

Rosalie felt like she was going to explode. She knew that she would have to go, but it would take a lot of convincing Emmett for him to come. And then there was the whole deal of Royce and Emmett being in the same place that was a huge problem.

She just didn't want to be around drunk, horny teenagers that just smelt sour and rich and treated the kids less than them as losers.

And, thinking of it, she didn't actually want to be around Bella.

"Look," Royce said quietly, rolling over on the bed and dangling his legs off the edge. He stared at Rosalie, full-on, scarily. "I decided to ignore today's public display of humiliation while you fondled God-knows-where with the new boy and let it slide even with my parents."

"They rang my mom."

"To warn her," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You're messing with a guy who punched me twice."

"It's not like you didn't deserve it," Rosalie said, matter-of-factly. She didn't know where this whole attitude had come from, but she liked it.

Royce just smiled. "And now you're sticking up for him? Think about how he could hurt you, Rose. That's something I can't even think about without getting furious. And every time I see him, I know what he's capable of, and that doesn't exclude you. What if one day you have to be somewhere else and he doesn't like that?"

Rosalie bit her lip. She knew, from what she had seen already, that Emmett was somewhat of a fighter. That part was true. But could he really hurt her? She glanced up at Royce who was still smiling. He knew he was going to get his way.

"Now," he didn't wait for her answer and picked up the Breakfast at Tiffany's DVD case. "How about we watch it together? I know it's your favorite."

Rosalie hesitated, but eventually, she placed herself down next to Royce, defeated. As the iconic beginning scene began – one that she could mimic step by step and action by action if required – she laid her head on the back of her bed and slumped against the pillow.

She really hated having to live her life like a puppet.

…

The first step of Emmett's new, possibly temporary move in at the Cullen's house was shopping. Something that both Edward and Emmett hated, but being given money and time away from the house was something that made the shopping a lot better than they had expected.

They may still have been grounded (_until further notice_ said Esme), but even Carlisle and Esme knew that the back-to-school party was something of a requirement in Forks. Until the previous day, Esme had believed that it was just Edward who was going to the party, but Edward couldn't wait to tell his parents about how Rosalie Hale had invited them both.

They didn't actually know what surprised them more: the fact Rosalie invited Emmett or the fact she invited Edward.

Emmett needed new clothes anyway. It wasn't just that he needed a new outfit for the party, but just for everyday life, too. He wasn't sure if Edward was the best shopping partner, but having no other alternative options, he was stuck with him.

"How about this?" Edward asked, holding up a hideous purple sweater that had pink stripes everywhere expect the middle. That part was covered in a picture with a dog.

"I would rather set myself on fire," Emmett said. Edward shrugged, placed the sweater back on the rack and walked away to continue searching for something. While he was out of Edward's sight, Emmett took a glance at the price tag.

_153 dollars? _he thought. _For this piece of cra__p?_

"You think that's expensive, take a look around the whole shop."

He jumped at the voice and dropped the sweater onto the shop's carpet. He bent down to pick it up at the same time that Rosalie did. She had a small smile on her face as they both slowly raised until they were looking into each other's eyes with a silence lingering in the air.

"How did you know I was here?" Emmett asked, feeling like an idiot afterwards. Rosalie's smile grew wider.

"I didn't," she informed him and held up a tight and strapless dark blue dress. "I'm getting something for the party."

"It's nice."

"You're not supposed to say that!" Rosalie giggled. "You're a boy."

"I would never wear that …"

Rosalie grinned. "Maybe not, but you're still a boy and you still have terrible opinions. Now I'm going to have to put the dress back."

"What I'm saying is," Emmett smirked, "it's not my color."

Rosalie couldn't help but burst out laughing, causing the shop's old assistant to glare in her direction. She placed a hand over her mouth and nodded. "Okay," she said, still laughing. "Whatever you say. So why are–"

Edward cut their conversation off unintentionally by coming up behind Emmett, holding another sweater, but this time a red and green one. It reminded him of Christmas – his favorite holiday – and he assumed Emmett would love it. Who wouldn't?

Rosalie wouldn't. The laughter that had died down inside her started again and the shop assistant gave her a warning look. She couldn't stop laughing at the sweater, making Edward, who had only just seen that Rosalie was there, frown.

"What's wrong with it? I thought …" he stopped himself when Bella, huffing and puffing, stepped up behind Rosalie. She frowned and cursed in a whisper to Rosalie who had to bite her finger to stop herself from laughing. It only angered Bella more.

"They don't even have my size!" she pouted. "This is _not_ a laughing matter, Rose."

Normally, Edward would have found it incredibly stupid and vain that a girl would complain over things as little and silly as not having the right size. But since the girl in question was Bella Swan, he just blushed and looked at the floor, finding himself silently hoping that a sale's person would come and bring Bella her size and pronto.

"Can you help– Wait, what the hell are you doing with them?" Bella sneered in Edward's direction mainly. He wasn't bothered. The only thing that took all his attention was dropping the sweater and hiding it so Bella didn't see it. Rosalie was right. It was stupid.

"I was asking Emmett's opinion on the dress," Rosalie said. Bella eyed Emmett up and down before a smile came across her fox-like face. She almost blushed.

"I guess that's okay then," Bella said, brushing a few locks of her hair behind her shoulder and keeping the infamous boy-magnet smile on show. Then she turned to Rosalie and frowned. "But that dress is a no-no. That is so not your color" – Rosalie smiled at this, remembering Emmett's comment – "you should go for green. Now come on! You need to help me find a dress, too. It's not just you that's got to look pretty!"

Bella was dragging Rosalie away before she could say anything else. Rosalie was thankful that Bella was somewhat of a small person, thus not being very strong, otherwise it would've hurt. Emmett chuckled once while Edward glared at him, going unnoticed by Emmett, who also had realised that Bella had totally been eyeing him.

Edward may not have known much about how to impress a girl, but he definitely knew when a girl was impressed. Now it looked like he was going to have to work extra hard to woo Bella.

If only he could must up the courage.

…

"He's so hot," Bella gushed to a few of her friends who had gathered around her as soon as she walked through the door. She sipped her punch slowly and smiled at a few people who walked past her and called her name. She was _still_ waiting for Emmett.

"So, is it like, official?" a girl named Vanessa asked. She had a sneaky smile on her face and held a glass of champagne that was almost empty. It didn't take any of them long for the alcohol to start flowing down their systems.

"Not yet," Bella said, getting more anxious of time. She had told her girls that Emmett was coming to the party for her (and not because Rosalie invited him). _He had offered_, she told them, _to escort me!_

So where the hell was he?

"This place is …"

"Huge? Crazy? Shiny? Weird? Huge? _Crazy?_"

"And the people are …"

"Ruthless? Mean? Disgusting? Glamorous? Gorgeous?"

Emmett nodded. "Pretty much," he said.

He was pretty lucky to have Edward with him. And although it wasn't the most popular choice admittedly, he needed somebody to show him around. And they were friends now. At least he thought so. After seeing Rosalie and Bella in the shop the previous day, Edward had been acting weird.

Speaking of Rosalie, he was looking forward to finding her. He remembered her telling him something – over text – about Royce not being able to make the party. Rosalie had initially thought that Royce was going to be there, but he had a volleyball tournament that day and … well, God knows why that stopped him from coming to the party that _everybody_ was at. Rosalie didn't care why, though, she just cared that he wasn't going to bother her for at least one night.

"Hey, man," Emmett started, nudging Edward on the shoulder and smirking. He wanted to make him loosen up a little. Even he was okay about the whole thing, though the only reason he had come was for Rosalie. The party was actually pretty cool so far. "There's Bella."

Edward squinted in the direction that Emmett pointed. Bella, surely enough, was standing with a few giggling girls, holding a red, plastic cup. She was grinning, her loose curls falling down her back as she laughed. She was remarkably stunning. She was having the time of her life.

It didn't take long for Bella to spot Emmett, either, but it was soon after he had pointed her out to Edward. Edward, although being excited to see Bella, had lost all courage that he had built up to speak to Bella. She was too stunning, and he was a nobody. An ugly nobody.

"Girls!" Bella ordered, stomping her foot. "Take this," she gave one of the girls her punch, almost tipping it all over herself, and took Vanessa's glass of champagne from her unsuspecting hands. "And don't follow! He's mine. I called it."

She ignored whatever useless comments her friends were saying and started floating over to Emmett's place. She was graceful, beautiful, and wearing one of the most beautiful dresses ever created. She couldn't wait to show it off to Emmett.

Before she made it over to Emmett, somebody took a hold of her arm and spun her around. She frowned, preparing to glare at whoever it was, but the only person who stared back at her was Rosalie. She looked confused.

"Where have you been?" Rosalie asked. She was wearing the dress that Bella said not to, but that wasn't the most important thing in this moment. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Rose," she hissed, "now's not the time." Loosening Rosalie's grip on her arm, she took a ship of her champagne. "I'm about to go talk to somebody."

Rosalie was curious now. "Who?" she asked casually.

Bella waited for a long, hard moment before smiling wistfully. "Emmett," she told her best friend, whispering like it was a huge secret. "The new guy. You've heard of him, right?" With one last wink, she turned on her heel, took another gulp of her champagne and strutted over to Emmett.

Rosalie stared after her, her mouth open slightly agape. She knew that whenever Bella wanted something, she got it. And with the quick push up of her chest as she walked, it wasn't going to be hard. Rosalie didn't know how to feel, if she was honest.

In fact, she wasn't sure if she was going to like Bella's new boyfriend.

**AN – **ah I know I say this every chapter but … *sighs* I'm not sure if it's any good. Let me know! Plus, I'll be updating a lot, since I've got some storylines I'd like to try and I'm quite excited. :)


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